Posted
by
samzenpus
on Wednesday June 25, 2014 @12:00PM
from the hot-off-the-presses dept.

Google I/O, the company's annual developer tracking^wdevelopers conference, has opened today in San Francisco. This year the company has reduced the number of conference sessions to 80, but also promised a broader approach than in previous years -- in other words, there may be a shift in focus a bit from Google's best known platforms (Chrome/Chrome OS and Android). Given its wide-ranging acquisitions and projects (like the recent purchase of Nest, which itself promptly bought Dropcam, the ever smarter fleet of self-driving cars, the growing number of Glass devices in the wild, and the announcement of a 3D scanning high end tablet quite unlike the Nexus line of tablets and phones), there's no shortage of edges to focus on.
Judging from the booths set up in advance of the opening (like one with a sign announcing "The Physical Web," expect some of the stuff that gets lumped into "the Internet of Things." Watch this space -- updates will appear below -- for notes from the opening keynote, or follow along yourself with the live stream, and add your own commentary in the comments. In the days to come, watch for some video highlights of projects on display at I/O, too. Update: 06/25 17:41 GMT by T: Updates rolling in below on Android, wearables, Android in cars, Chromecast, smart watches, etc.Keep checking back! (Every few minutes, I get another chunk in there.)

Note: the notes below are taken live from the I/O keynote; they're rough, and they'll keep getting cleaned up throughout. Please add corrections, amplifications, etc. in the comments below!

Update 1:

After a a quick glance at a few of the viewing parties around the world (taking place in 85 countries, 6 continents -- We get a glance at London, Brazil, and an all-female delegation in Nigeria ) VP of Apps Sundar Pichai Sr presented a few stats:

Android tablets, he says, are up this year from 46pct of global market share to 62pct in 2014, when it comes to shipments. (And looking at YouTube use as a proxy: 28%last year, 2014 42%. App installs: up 236%.

Another stat that got a big round of applause: this year's IO has 20% women, more than 1000, up from 8% last year.

Pichai introduces Android One initiative, to get Android phones to price-sensitive market : Stock Android (same stock bar as in Nexus phones), plus allow OEMs to add their own stuff, but all the updates for system software comes straight from
(Example phone from Micromax: 4.5", SD car, dual sim, FM radio: "costs less than $100" "launching w 3 OEMs in India next year: Karbonn, micromax, and Spice.)

Update 2:

Preview of Upcoming L release:Matthias Duarte VP design, on the look:

What is pixels had not just color, but depth? What is they can change shape in response to touch? "Material design," says Duarte, is the new watchword. A material that can change shape physically is difficult; but now UI elements can use specified depth elements, and the Android framework will do things like apply virtual light sources to give the elements evident placement.

Typography Introduces font consistency -- using the font "robot" -- so you can use the same one on all hardware (he mentions watch, TV, tablet

Rich, animated touch feedback.

Animated icons for printer, play, etc.

In L, developers can create "seamless animation from any screen to any other, between activities, and even between apps."

Introduces Polymer, which also brings the same features to desktop development.

Unified set of style guidelines for developers and designers. First draft out today at google.com/design.

Search improvements: Searching integrates recent use of apps and tabs, too: opening Yelp or OpenTable can drag in a recent searches, so for instance a search for a restaurant in your recent history will take you instantly to a restaurant if you open a restaurant-related app.

from wrist, quick replies can be sent, calls can be rejected / sent to voice mail; phone an also be set to Do Not Disturb with a single swipe.Can be used to control devices around you, with voice controls

("play some music" to control enabled devices, with playback display on wrist.)

heartbeat sensors

turn by turn dirs on the wrist, from Google maps

Full Android Wear SDk out today: most API from Android available here, which means you can do things like read the sensors etc. to make apps that run on the watch itself, as well as ones that connect as an interface to a phone or other device.

Demo of Eat24 shows (and gets oddly huge applause) ordering and paying for pizza straight from a phone; guess this a pro-pizza crowd. Bigger applause when he says this runs on the watch itself,

apps can be synched such that reading text on phone scrolls in on watch and vice versa

big applause for claim that all the new watches are water resistant, so not risky to cook with them. (Food references again ;))

You can also use it like a Chromecast -- play phone / tablet through TV, stereo, etc.

Says new lines from Sony, Sharp, Philips, will all run it; more from Acer, Asus, etc. later.

Console style gaming.

SDK: ADT one, available to debs through sign-up page.

Update 9:Rishi Chandra on Chromecast:

Google Cast, as mentioned, coming to Google TV devices

Lots of Google Cast Ready Apple's: went from just a few (like NetFlix) to many dozens. Any developer (iOS, ChromeOS, Android) can extend their app to the Google Cast world through SDK.

Today, announcing new list of apps at Chromecast.com/app

Easy authentication (opt-in feature, so you can control, though), no complicated hassle of adding a new user who wants to show you a quick home movie.

When TVs not being watched? New "GoogleCast "ambient" experience background pictures, etc. (Pretty, but wouldn't it be nice to save the electricity, in most cases?) Some nice eye candy in form of curated, "safe" pictures though, and fun geographic-centric ones, too, drawn from Google Earth.

Emphasis on Voice search

All android devices can be attached / streamed through it

Update 10:Sundar Pichae back again to talk ChromeOS and Android for Work:

Top 10 highest rated lap opts on Amazon: all chromebooks
6x growth this year in k-12 schools

notices from phone can now show up on Chromebooks

apps, too: This seems to be couched in "some apps," *but* for those apps (like Evernote), "everything just works." On the Chromebook as it is on the phone or tablet, forever and ever, amen.

Flipboard, too.

Profiles: lets you use corporate stuff, but with full separation of data, and high security.

For developers, no modification of existing apps needed.

Gives a nod to Samsung for developing Knox, says that work is now integrated with the Android ecosystem.

In fall, a certified Android to work program.

Announces Native office editing within Google Docs suite of editors -- works on MS Office docs directly (nice!) rather than converting to Google Docs as intermediary.

making testing easier: Announces that "the appurify team is joining Google"; cross-platform cloud testing service

Google fit platform preview - single set of APIs to manage apps, sensors on cross-platform devices, incl. wearables. This is coming "in a few weeks."

Update 13:And finally ...

Google IO has a tradition of giving out cool hardware to attendees; this year, the first thing announced is low-key by any standards, never mind the glare of the tablets, phones, etc. that have been handed out are previous IOs: called Cardboard, it's the result of one of the "20 percent" projects that Google employees are encouraged to take part in: A chunk of cardboard slightly wider and slightly thinner than a trade paperback can be folded and velcroed in place to create a pair of goggles, into which a smartphone can be inserted. Instant movie viewing environment for the airplane, if you don't mind feeling curious stares. It's no Occulus Rift; maybe it's best used as a stereoscope.

The real swag at I/O this year, though, is a smart watch, or rather two of them: Samsung and LG watches will be given out tomorrow to the several thousand attendees (one each), and later in the summer, Motorola's will be, too. (By post.) Interesting: there aren't that many modern computing devices with round interfaces. (Not zero, but not many.)